Nightmares
by Miss-Pardon
Summary: Short Stories. Once in a while, I'll post a nightmare of my own.
1. Its Own Interpretation

_I know this is a dream. Its so haunting and yet I don't want to wake up. Maybe its another premonition of mine. Suddenly I am standing in a hallway full of memories, pictures crammed together on the wall like the people of the world left these pictures for someone who was coming by to visit their planet after the people of world all died to enjoy the display. I stopped, a picture in black and white with shifting people entering and leaving photograph. But a couple stood in the midst of the never ending movement on the crosswalk. The young woman was fading and soon she was walking with rest of them. The young man stood there with a blank expression, his hands coming up to his face, the people moving were a blur turning into black. A piercing scream erupted. _

_I was on my knees, the scream lasted I didn't know how long, my hands covering my ears tightly. My head throbbed with pain, until it registered the screaming had stopped I looked up, to the left and to the right, the photographs were no longer there. Yet the lone man in the only photograph on the wall was walking forward, becoming larger until he was standing before me. He pointed to his chest, I glanced to see a gaping hole where he pointed. _

_"Would you mind giving me back my heart?"_

_I gasped. The walls disintegrated, only a pathway of stones was left. I gulped. "Who are you?"_

_"I am-"_

_A blinding white stopped us from talking, I squinted my eyes and saw a rectangular doorway, and nothing beyond that. I looked back to notice he had continued to stare at me. I was tempted to ask him if the light had bothered him. I did not._

_"No it did not bother me."_

_"What?" _

_"The light did not bother me."_

_"I didn't ask any-" _

_"You didn't?" He tilted his head._

_I remembered my original question didn't get answered. "Um.. Who are you?" He lifted a finger, placed it on my lips, slowly tracing it down to where my heart was and shoved his hand into my chest. I hacked up blood and the constant gasps started to strangle me. I could feel his blood soaked hand clasp on the right side of my heart, his fingers slowly tearing into the middle. He yanked out half my heart, my brain could not process the no longer beating organ, it got heavy and I felt myself being dragged towards the doorway, my hands aimlessly clutching at my bloodsoaken shirt._

_He stopped abruptly and tossed me into the whiteness which turned to black. As I fell, the blood from my chest flew upward, falling down with me. The space in which I was falling started to get smaller and smaller. _

_When I felt myself getting closer to waking up I heard him respond... _

_"I am you."_


	2. Like Mother, Like Son

I did not understand the value of human life until I commited ultimate sin. Though I didn't want to, I was forced too. I was forced to by my mother's hand. She was the coward but... I knew I was too. I didn't stop her from making me do this. I was too afraid to.

My parents forced me into so many things I couldn't keep track until I bought my own bulletin board for all the activities. At the same time I was relieved to no longer have my parents around. My mother put me in foster care, lying that she couldn't provide for me. Everything was a lie. I don't remember the story my mother told the cops, I can't even register even talking to them. Soon I was up for adoption.

"Who are you waiting for? The Reaper himself?" My mother's derisive voice said. I held the knife over father's throat, trying to get a good aim on the jugular vein. Strange, I shouldn't be thinking of how to kill my father. Mother told me to just kill him with whatever and do it.

"Kill him already."

"Can I ask you something before I do?" My grip on the knife became slick but I firmly held it.

Scoffing she answered, "A quick one."

"Why do you want **me **to kill father?"

Narrowing her eyes, she walked over and leaned forward, pointing to the vein that throbbed in my sleeping father's neck. "Right there Jason." She took a few steps back. I couldn't stop myself from listening to her. I sliced. I never did know why she wanted me to kill him, a fifteen-year old boy.

Until I graduated from college I saw her, though one who wasn't related couldn't have recognized her. Her cheeks were still that of a childs, ringlets of brown cascaded down her back, her lips like pink petals. I knew at least that the cops didn't have enough evidence to find the killer who was right in front of them, but my mom asked them to not question me. She was just about to walk past me but I said forthright, "Plastic sugery, Mum?" She froze on the sidewalk. From what I remember her breasts weren't Ds. Her face slightly altered, her legs too skinny. "Was it prostitution that paid for it?"

She whipped her head towards me, her curls bouncing, and then looking up at me, seeing as I had grown much over the years. "Jason?"

"A quick question. Why did you want me to kill him?"

She studied my face for a long while, then answered, "So I could get rid of you."

"What a great mother you are," I said sarcastically, my eyes straying towards the moving traffic.

"Though it wasn't your father you killed."

I choked on the air I was inhaling and demanded, "So who is my father?"

"_Was _your father. I killed him."

Huh. "So what did he do? My fake father?"

"He was about to find out that he wasn't the dad, so I had you kill him because I'd rather him think that his son killed him. Torture him a little."

"Why did you kill my real father then?" I narrowed my eyes.

"He tried to kill me, but I wanted to kill him for awhile..."

"Why?"

She smiled. "Because he got me pregnant." Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. A week later I shot her in the head. Best damn thing I've ever felt proud of. A thing that I wasn't forced to do. Because I wanted to.


	3. Black Cat

The chirping of birds drowned out by the roar of a lawn mower. A raven sat on the brick wall, its head twisting this way and that, momentarily staring at nothing for a minute then opening its beak to let out guttural caw. I heard a boy telling a group of kids surrounding him that he made a raven swallow rocks. A smug grin stretched across the boy's face and everyone muttered, a few girls yelled at him or worried about the poor bird. I stood on the sidewalk and watched the boy's grin drop when he saw me staring. He shooed everyone away and his head drooped, hands in pockets.

Somewhere a dog barked, and then a loud conversation started among the many backyards. I imagined the mouth, wet with saliva and teeth baring, the dog snapping its jaw, his haunches stressed and his paw clawing at the gate. The boy came up to me, his head down and now his fingers absently playing with the hem of his shirt. He whispered, "You won't tell father will you?"The boy was still young, but nevertheless he needed punishment.

"I'll have to," I replied.

"You...You don't want to tell on me?" He now looked up at me with wistful eyes.

I shrugged and mussed up his hair. "If I don't, watch out for it." They widened with fear, with a quick nod he ran off, leaving me in the murky light. A feeble meow was heard next to my leg while something warm rubbed against it. One hand in my pocket, I reached with the other to cup the belly of the small kitten. I placed it on my shoulder, the tiny body vibrating with its pleased purrs.

I headed back home.

"I don't get why all of you are infatuated with me," I said to the room.

The shadows moved and walked. Yellow eyes opened and blinked at me as they walked around the room trying to be noticed. "Yes I know," I said irritably as a black cat nipped at my shoulder. "The boy did a very bad thing." I sounded amused.

_He needs to be punished. _The biggest black cat, the one that nipped me, hissed. Not saying she was fat, but the tallest on all fours.

_Very. He hurt one of our fellow omens. _Another said while licking his paws.

_You command us. Why are you showing mercy on one who dares hurt creatures, like they, us, are nothing? _ His brother hissed.

"I don't command you. Father does," I replied simply.

_We follow his orders, but we detest them. _

_His orders contrast our natural omen!_

_Yes, he makes us out to be saints._

I pondered over those statements for a couple of seconds. I then wondered out loud. "So where is father?"

_He crossed our path._

_What do you think happened?_

"No I don't know what happened," I inquired. Chortles erupted from the black cats and one jumped on the couch, gaining attention from his companions and myself.

_It's his fault for stepping in front of us. He came towards us with hedge clippers; he had been trimming the neighbor's bushes. A kid on his bike rushed behind him, putting the old man off balance. The clippers stabbed him through his stomach. He reached out to us and I clawed the pavement hard enough to create friction. He burst into flames._

"Yes, he controlled your will didn't he?" I asked.

_Exactly. Only at our master's vulnerable moments can we take back our will. _

He jumped down and retreated into the black mass of his kin.

The tall cat spoke. _We know what's in your heart, though our omen is that of bad luck. Now that that old man is out of the way…_

I smirked. "Find the boy." I could feel the elation smothering the room. A group filed out and disappeared. I leaned my head on my hand and smiled. I found neither joy nor hatred from father's deeds.

Now the sudden rise to master was filling my heart with greed. Father only gave out tedious punishments. The simple task of walking past the black cats would result in the punishment that father instructed. The cats had to perform a certain action to carry out the punishment without being too noticeable.

They haven't shown themselves for awhile. I started to worry and went over to the boy's house. I asked if he was home and his mother already looked worn, she fell to her knees and clawed at me. Screaming and sobbing, she asked me to find her son; he's nowhere to be found. Get father, he can help. She was already on the brink of insanity, and she already knew of father's tragic demise.

She forgot everything. "Did the cats take him? Oh God tell me they didn't take him!" She lifted herself up by holding onto my shirt and her face was scrunched up, her face in mine. Her husband was at her side now, forcing her inside, begging me to find him because I was closest to father.

I stepped out off the porch and walked a distance away until the hysterical screams of a mother no longer reached my ears. Our small neighborhood consisted of Victorian homes with families that believed myths. The myth that black cats grew taller every year, could control their growth, and spell bad luck in the town they claim as their home. They could take the form of a regular black cat. So far, this is largest family of mythical black cats ever found. They believe that seeing the same cat everywhere in town, and countless reports of mysterious fires to homes and injuries inflicted upon them, that the myth was true.

Of course they have been here for over hundred years, and many humans have died or escaped the wrath of the black cats' bad luck. It was karma in the making. Every year a new family, a family with a bad past wanting to leave the past behind, moved in but the past caught up to the cats. Or should I say their past caught up to the master and then the families. Several masters have come and gone. Most by unexplained deaths; though everyone blamed the cats.

I was bad luck. Black cats were attracted. Father, that's what the town called the man who was in charge. We only had one mayor apparently, who was killed with a gun to the head. No longer did we have a mayor, only a father who was peaceful. Though I know that more than eighty percent of the 'father's were saints, and they were killed. Father is master.

I stumbled.

Looking down I saw the body of the boy. Bad luck, black cats were attracted to that and killed their masters whom they didn't like. The tallest cat loomed over the boy and snapped its head up at me.

_He was a runner. _The cat grumbled and stalked over to the group of cats behind the fence.

"Of course. Running is the only way out of this cursed town." I nudged his head with my foot so half of his face looked out into the barren field. I hadn't known I walked that far.

One with a limp said. _Your first order as master, as father. _

Called demons in cat form, a black cat to create more chaos. "Drag him to the trash, the birds will have at him." I walked back into town, into the private cemetery and saw all the masters headstones poking out of the ground. All two hundred of them.


	4. Twisted Valentine's

"_What the hell were you doing?" _I don't know why he continued to scold me. What an asshole.

"Seriously, stop talking," I breathed.

"It's your own fault for getting kicked out of the club."

I turned and got in his face. "That bitch deserved a black eye," I yelled. My twin brother looked mildly surprised at my outburst, but was still recovering from my volatile mood in art club. Stupidity is what I have dealt with for the past four years in high school. I swear lack of common sense seems to be a high school disease.

"How'd it start? The fight?" He asked.

"I know what I did, it was wrong but she's been pissing me off since freshman year… I don't need to explain it," I huffed and crossed my arms. He sighed and pulled my ponytail. I yelped, though that was his thing when he gave up trying to get something out of me.

"Fine. Put this on," He grumbled, already shrugging off his coat. I complained and he mocked my whiny voice until I put it on. "It's cold out, Vani. So shut your mouth until we get to the car." I pouted and looked down at my feet.

"…dammit." I looked up when he cussed. The red convertible sat in its place but with several dents and the passenger window was smashed in. I noticed a red paper that wasn't there when we left for school lying on the backseat. I pointed at it for Donnie to notice it too. He reached in through the broken window and picked it up.

"What does it say—" Metallic and tang, the smell of blood.

"Fuck." He held it away from him, the paper dripping red. "It's totally soaked. Who the hell would leave this for us?"

A yellow sticky note was hanging from the window and I ripped it off, reading it. "Donnie?"

"Yeah?" He continued to stare at the bloody paper. "…There's something written on here."

"Leave it out to dry; we need to get going…" Donnie looked at me like I was crazy. "Read this before you say anything."Donnie leaned over, absently laying the drenched paper on the hood of his car, and read the sticky note.

_We know what you do in your free time, twins. How 'bout showing us what you're capable of? _

He looked at me with knowing eyes. "You recognize the handwriting?"

I nodded and told him to put the paper behind the back seat for it to dry in the sun. We both cleaned out the glass that was scattered across both the passenger and drivers seats. Donnie warned me ahead of time that it was going to get really cold when we start off. Now I wanted to punch the asshole that broke my brother's window. He turned up the heat on high and waited for the engine to warm up. The snow flurried in and onto my lap.

He pulled out a few minutes later and out of the school grounds. I didn't expect a fist to punch me as soon as we hit the highway. I glanced at him when his fist pulled back and gripped the steering wheel and I continued to stare at him until he looked at me with irritation. "You're such a fuckin' dumbass! Why the hell did ya have to punch her?" He snarled. "They've been watching us… Everything we do… They could very well report us…"

He bit his lip. "You should know how I felt; we both have the same temper."

He barked out a laugh. "Ha. Besides we could just get rid of the bitch, once she's gone, the others won't have the balls to go to the police."I smirked. There's my devilish brother. We killed our parents after years of abuse; it was on Valentine's Day too. Huh… come to think of it, it's been two full years since then.

"Hey, Donnie."

"What's up?"

"What day is it?"

His eyes widened with surprise. A grin split across his face. "Well, whataya know? It's Valentine's Day," He said with elation. "Happy Valentine' Day sis." We suggested the many ways we could erase the girl's existence.

Donnie laughed when I said we could stick her body with needles until she passed out. He said he'd be delighted to slit her throat afterwards. After the murder of our parents, during the two year period we've been exterminating the rest of our family. They were as bad as our parents. I didn't feel like going into the details about how we got the relatives to visit. Sometimes, only rarely, did they visit us out of their own will.

Donnie cussed again. The sudden intrusion of red and blue lights caused us both to wince, Donnie pulled over onto the curb. Two police cars and two black vans sat in front of our house while an ambulance was just pulling in behind the yellow warning tape. We glanced at each other at the same time; I pulled out my ponytail while Donnie unbuckled his seatbelt and we waited for the neighbors to create a crowd. He told me to get out and slam the door, he would follow shortly after. I did so.

"Oh my God."

"What is that they're carrying out of the house?"

"It's a body bag."

We walked together towards the crowd. "Didn't we sell our house to that lady?"

"Yeah," I replied, scanning for the police that were scattered on our old lawn, probably even more in the house. "Ah. Wait, there she is."

"Damn… Well they had enough balls to get rid of her for us."We were given permission to cross into the threshold, where we whispered to each other. The thirty-year-old red head lay on her stomach, her face snapped to the side, the expression that of shock, her blue eyes glazed over. The many police officers and FBI investigators were just a buzz in our ears as we recalled all the bodies that were currently being carried out of the basement. "We should get out of here and find those idiots. Hold on," Donnie muttered, grabbing a bulky man's shoulder as he passed by. "When did you guys arrive and when do you think the people who did this leave?"

The balding man narrowed his eyes. "Look kid, I know she was related to you, but we can't have teens out there trying to save the day."

"You didn't answer my question."

He quirked an eyebrow and huffed. "We got a call about an hour ago, we arrived five minutes later. We take it that they left in that period of five minutes," He said, leading us downward to the basement. "They stated that we would find even more that they killed." I glared at the darkness, Donnie's eyes tightened. "When we first entered the basement, this is what we saw."

My own eyes widened and I glared at the indignation that stained the bricks.

We killed all of them

The twins are next

The cement floor was cracked and several pieces of the cement contained the many parts of our relatives. The last few we didn't bother to drown in cement, we just stuffed them in the fireplace. We never even lit them on fire.

"How many were there?" We pulled off our most convincing display of disgust and horror.

"Quite a few, like they had been rotting away for a few years. Excuse me," He said as he was pulled away by an investigator.

My brother pulled me towards him and whispered above my head, "We need to get out of here." I nodded and we started out of the basement.

"Hey you two!" We reluctantly looked back. "We need to ask you a few questions."Our eyes shot back and forth between them and the door. Donnie clutched my arm and pushed me, inciting me to get a head start. I ran, Donnie's heavy footsteps following a few seconds later.

The investigators and cops heard the bellow of the head cop and gave start to us running teenagers who were already out the door. Donnie pushed the button and the car clicked the doors open. I slid over the hood and jumped into the driver's seat. Donnie tried reprimanding me for my past car crashes but I snatched the keys from his hands and started the car with a huge roar. "Get in or get arrested." He sneered at me but got in.

"Where's that party she was having?" Unlike the other rebellious teenagers, she decided to find an abandoned house up by the cemetery and hold the party there. But there were several abandoned houses and we have two cemeteries.

"Probably the farthest one out. Cuz who wants a bunch of loud teenagers having a party next door?" I jerked my head and punched the gas until it revved and we drove out. There were several twists and turns that even the police knew about. Finally I drove them off the trail through the forest. Red, blue, orange, and white lights peeked through the trees and I sped up.

"Don't you think a hundred mph is a bit much to drive through a forest?" My brother asked wearily. I scoffed and swerved to a stop a good two hundred meters away from the lit up house, shadows of teenagers all clustered together with drinks in hand. The music pounded against the rickety walls but enough for us to hear yelling and techno music. Dirt and rocks flew and created a film of brown when I skidded. I shoved my hand in his pocket and produced a lighter.

"Thought you quit." More of a statement than a question.

"Tch." He snatched it back and demanded, "What'd you wanna use it for?"

I smirked. "Oh you already know, brother."

The windows exploded, shards flying and crashing. We knew that all of them would burn. I looked at my brother, then he me. We nodded and he drove us to the tallest tree in the cemetery. I, Vani, and my twin brother, Donnie's bodies would soon be found dangling from a branch with ropes tied tightly around our throats.


End file.
